自我牺牲 (zì wǒ xī shēng) — self-sacrifice

Definition

noun

self-sacrifice

Examples

自我牺牲。
Zhè zhǒng zì wǒ xī shēng jīng shén zhí dé wǒ men xué xí.
This spirit of self-sacrifice is worth learning from.
自我牺牲。
Tā wèi le jiā tíng zuò chū le hěn dà de zì wǒ xī shēng.
He made great self-sacrifice for his family.
，自我牺牲。
Zài zhàn zhēng zhōng, xǔ duō zhàn shì yòng zì wǒ xī shēng huàn lái le hé píng.
In war, many soldiers exchanged self-sacrifice for peace.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

自我self

自zìself我wǒI

联合Coordinate

牺牲sacrifice

牺xīsacrificial animal牲shēnganimal

联合Coordinate

自我 means self and 牺牲 means sacrifice; together it names giving up oneself.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

The glyph 我 originally drew a trident-like weapon. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write the pronoun "I", so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 我 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 犧; 牺 is its simplified writing.

牛羲犧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

牛牛niúox

Sound part声符shēngfú

羲

羲xī犧xī

Same sound today

The traditional form 犧 pairs 牛 (ox) with 羲 as its sound part.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.